Yet another "funny urate" question

muffin_song

New member
Reviving this thread because it has all of Scooter's information in one place.

Scooter's appetite has not been great for the last few months. I went as far as taking her to the vet, who examined her and said she looked healthy and suggested giving her warm soaks. I did this for a while, and things seemed to get relatively back to normal. She also is always very active.

After not eating for a week, Scooter finally ate two butterworms on Sunday afternoon (Note: It's not typical for her to be up during the afternoon. There was an issue with her temperature probe that has since been fixed, plus I think a loud noise in my house alerted her). The second butterworm she seemed to struggle with a little - that worm took a LONG time to swallow, even though I hadn't thought it was especially big. But eventually she got it down and went back to bed.

I was out most of Sunday night, but she seemed to stay in her hide. I let her be.

Tonight (Monday) I came home to find Scooter out and about, and that she had puked up one of the butterworms :yikes: It was barely digested and still looked like a butterworm. She wandered around for a bit, and is currently back in her favorite hide.

I'm a little freaked out. I've never seen her throw up before. If I take her back to the vet, the next steps would be to do a fecal and/or an x-ray. These run about $100 each. I am very committed to Scooter's welfare, but I also don't want to spend $200+ if she just bit off more than she could chew (literally!)

I have a feeling people here will just say, "Wait it out over the next few days and see what happens", but I thought I would post and see if anyone had any thoughts.
 

Zux

New member
Regarding the throwing up thing, it can happen from time to time so may not warrant a vet trip in itself. If she throws up a second time however something is not right and a trip would be prudent.

Regarding the poor appetite, some of my females are the same way at this time of year and eat very little if at all, the key thing is they remain active, maintain weight and otherwise appear/behave healthy, if Scooter is doing all of this I would not be overly concerned personally.
 

muffin_song

New member
Thanks Shane. She seemed reasonably active last night and didn't throw up the other butterworm, so I'm just going to keep a very close eye on her for the next few days.

I have heard that females' appetite can get weird this time of year. Scooter has remained very active this whole time. She is down some weight over a number of months, but she was pretty chunky to begin with so being at around 65 grams now may be a good thing?
 

Zux

New member
A little slimming will do her no harm, the vast majority of Leopard Geckos in captivity tend to err on the side of overweight. Those of mine who fast tend to be even more active if anything !
 

muffin_song

New member
Hi all,

Different things keep coming up, but I figure I should try to keep Scooter's health information all in the same thread.

So the good news is the throwing up appears to have been a one time thing. I also adjusted her hide placement to give her better "secure" access on the warm side of the tank. However, I've noticed a strange trend: I've had the best luck getting Scooter to eat in the morning. At night she'll be active and not interested in bugs. But if I get her attention in the morning by lifting her hide and waking her up, she'll actually be interested in her dubias and can get her to eat one or two. She goes back to sleep soon after and wakes up again in the early evening.

Note that I live in a studio apartment and am typically up until midnight. I don't have overhead lighting and try my best to point any lamps away from her cage. Ambient light comes through the window - I usually have the blinds shut at night and open them when I wake up.

Frankly, I'm thrilled that she's eating. It's more that I find the behavior curious and was wondering if anyone had insights.
 

Zux

New member
All I can imagine is that being crepuscular as distinct from nocturnal it is likely they hunt both early morning and late evening into night.
 

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Thank you for keeping most all Scooter's info on this thread. :) That really benefits Scooter. Doing that gives people the "big picture" about Scooter, not just little tidbits here and there!
 

muffin_song

New member
All I can imagine is that being crepuscular as distinct from nocturnal it is likely they hunt both early morning and late evening into night.

Yeah, I guess that's true - Scooter typically wakes up in the early evening when it's still light at, so crepuscular would likely cover a few hours after the sun rises. I was just surprised because she appears to be sleeping when I open her cage, but will become interested in food when I offer it.


Thank you for keeping most all Scooter's info on this thread. :) That really benefits Scooter. Doing that gives people the "big picture" about Scooter, not just little tidbits here and there!

Glad to make things easier! :D Occasionally I've thought of using another forum (like the one on Food and Feeding), but I do get the point about getting a global picture of her health.

Keep your fingers crossed that this trend continues? I'd really like to stop wondering whether I'm worrying too much or not enough! :scratchhead:
 

Zux

New member
You're doing wonderfully either way. I am the same as you with the worry, its a problem !
 
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